The Boy With the Magic Shadow

A mother and father lovingly tucked their son into bed, singing to him, and kissing him goodnight about a zillion and a half times. Finally, they left him to sleep, and stole one final peek at the boy, before shutting the door behind them. When they were gone, one eye shot open in the darkness. He stopped to listen. Was there any stirring about? Were his parents still up?

After several minutes of silence, he called out softly, "Shadow? Are you here?"

Quietly, he reached into his nightstand, and his pudgy fingers clutched his favorite toy, a flashlight.

He shined the flashlight against his wall, waving his fat little fist in front of the beam, "Aha, there ya are! What are we gonna play tonight?"

The boy produced a shadow puppet in the shape of a bunny, with two long ears flopping, then he waited. When Shadow didn't respond, he frowned.

"All right, how 'bout this?" He asked, making a shadowy duck creature.

The duck snapped its bill three times. Still nothing out of the ordinary occurred, and the boy sighed. Shadow sure was being picky tonight. He scratched his curly head, thinking. What puppet would Shadow most like to play with? Suddenly, he gasped with inspiration. The boy held the flashlight between his knees, because he needed both hands for this one. Crossing his thumbs, the boy spread his remaining digits in the shape of wings. He wiggled his fingers gracefully, mimicking a bird in flight.

"Say, wanna play eagle tonight, Shadow?"

Slowly, the shadow puppet grew larger and larger. Before long, the eagle began flapping its wings of its own accord. Satisfied, the boy dropped his hands in his lap.

"Yes! I always wanted to fly!"

Shadow began to squawk. First the noise came in rather low, but gradually grew louder and louder. The eagle continued to beat its powerful wings, all the while growing steadily larger. Shadow glided across the room, until the boy was face to face with the now massive bird. The boy stood on his bed, arms open wide. Then, Shadow clasped both the boy's shoulders with its mighty talons, and flew with him out the open window, in search of a new adventure.